The Wish List
by disneyduckling
Summary: When Texas Ranger: Mark Calaway becomes in charge of fostering a little girl, he's put to the ultimate test in trying to become "Fatherly." On top of all that, the little girl has a lung disease, and her kidnapper is still on the loose. Poor Mark has his work cut out for him, eh?
1. Chapter 1

_**The Wish List has been revived! :) If any of my faithful followers out there remember this story, they would know that this was inspired by the episodes "Lucas/Lucas 2" from Walker Texas Ranger, so the beginning is going to be pretty much the same...even the dialogue. It WILL become different soon, but until then, full credit for the first few chapters goes to The Creative Team of Walker Texas Ranger.**_

"C'mon, Garcia! It's OVER! There's nowhere left to run!" Ranger Mark Calaway yelled to the infamous drug dealer.

"Not happening, Calaway!" the man yelled back.

It was a hot day in Houston, Texas and the Texas Rangers got a hot lead on a major drug heist that was going down. Ranger Calaway and his partner Ranger Paul Levesque along with some backup, were all gunned up and waiting outside of an abandoned shack that was being used as the drug HQ. Word must have gotten out that they were caught, because once the Rangers arrived, they were in the middle of trying to escape.

"Alright Garica, have it your way!" Calaway said before kicking the door down.

"Texas Rangers! Freeze!" Calaway barked.

Garcia was nowhere in sight, but his goones put their hands up in surrender at the huge 6'10 Texas ranger. Cowards.

"Book 'em." he grunted at Levesque.

He slowly walked down at put his hands on his holster. He came across a door and listened carefully. He thought he heard shuffling, so he quickly drew his gun out and kicked the door opened.

"Garica!" he yelled.

"Ahh!" Garcia quickly drew HIS gun and shot at the Ranger.

Calaway closed the door quickly enough to dodge the bullet. He closed his eyes and growled.

He then heard glass shatter. He put his hand on the trigger of his gun and opened the door slowly again. He found that the broken glass sound that he heard was a window being broken. Garcia had escaped. Again.

"Damn." Mark muttered under his breath.

"He's gone." he yelled throughout the house.

He was about to leave the small bedroom, but he stopped when he thought he heard what sounded like someone crying, from behind another closed door in the room.

"Levesque!" he yelled. He pulled his gun out again and made his way to the door.

Levesque came up behind him and gave him a nod.

Mark quickly opened the door, and his eyes widened in horror and shock at what he saw.

A little girl who couldn't have been more than ten, was shivering and crying in the corner holding a teddy bear to her side as if it were her lifeline. There were plates of eaten and uneaten food that had to have been days old that had rats and cockroaches crawling all over them.

"Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me." Paul said shocked and appalled.

Mark quickly put his gun back in his holster and made his way over to the girl. She whimpered and moved away as if the corner she was in could go back further. It couldn't.

"It''s okay honey. My name is Ranger Calaway…this is my friend Ranger Levesque…we're here to help you ok? Don't be afraid." he said soothingly at the shaking girl.

The girl just seemed to look straight through him with a thousand yard stare, and tears streaming down her dirt marked face.

"…He's going to hurt me.." she said smally.

Mark shook his head.

"No ones gonna hurt you, darlin'. I'm a police man. See here? It's my badge. I'm here to help you ok? Trust me." he coaxed.

When he didn't get a response but more tears and whimpers from the girl he told Paul to call an ambulance. He looked back at the little girl and made his way over to her and scooped her up in his arms, and frowned. She was as light as a feather…

"Let's get you out of here, kiddo…"


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later, Mark took the liberty to go to the Texas Children's Hospital and check on the little girl. He still couldn't shake the image of her trembling little body as she cried in his arms. His heart went to the girl.

"Ranger Calaway." said a pretty, young brunette nurse.

"Hi Dr. I'm here to check on the little girl…how's she doing?" he asked concerned.

The nurse furrowed her eyebrows.

"Not the best. She won't talk to anyone…All she does is just hold on to that teddy bear…No one even knows her name. We were lucky enough that she didn't scream when we have her a shower." she said sympathetically.

He sighed and nodded his head.

"Let me see if I can get her to talk." he said.

She nodded and smiled hopefully, as she lead him to her room.

When he walked in, his heart melted. With the girl being cleaned up, he saw more of her soft features. She had black, back-length soft hair that looked as smooth as silk, deep brown chocolate eyes that anyone could just swim in, and she had the face of an angel.

"Hi there." Mark said with a smile.

The girl looked at him with sad eyes.

"Do you remember me?" he asked gently.

Mark looked at her fragile, hesitant face, and he knew she was too scared to answer. So he decided to take a different approach.

"That your teddy bear? She's mighty cute." he said with a thick Texan accent.

She looked down at the bear she was holding and lifted her lips to what Mark thought looked like a small smile.

"You know what I'm good at? I'm good at guessing names. And I'll bet you, that I can guess your teddys name. Wanna see? Watch."

The girl looked at him with curious eyes.

"I'll bet her name is…Sally." he said guessing off the bat.

He looked in her hesitant eyes, but saw just a glimmer of relaxation in them. That brought him hope.

"Bella." the girl replied quietly.

Although Mark would never admit it, his heart was beaming with joy. He kept his face composed.

"Hmm…yeah, yeah, she looks like a Bella. Guess I didn't do too hot that time, huh?" he asked with a fake disappointed sigh.

"Ok then, let me try again. I'm going to guess your name, ok?" he said with a smile.

The girl looked at him and nodded her head.

"Now don't tell me…..Hmmm…..Your name is…Kate." he guessed.

She looked at him carefully. She knew that this was the man who saved her from Ernesto…and he least he could do was talk to him and be nice. After all…he wasn't being mean.

"No….it's Leah. Leah Rodriguez.." she said softly.

Mark smiled and took his black cowboy hat off like a gentleman.

"Well Leah, it's nice to meet you. I'm Ranger Mark Calaway." he said holding out his hand for her to shake.

She smiled slightly and shook it.

"I remember you." she said as she looked up at him with a cute half smile.

"Ranger Calaway." the doctor called from the door.

He looked at her and saw that she had a troubled look on her face…and he knew the news couldn't be good.

"I'll be right back." he said with a forced smile as he put his hat back on.

"The test results came back…she has a lung disorder." she said sadly.

"From what?" Mark asked perplexed and worriedly.

"I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the chemicals and minerals she was exposed to…I don't think it's genetic. We don't know the severity of it yet…but we'll do more tests and see how bad it is." she explained.

Mark sighed and ran his hand along his face. This was exactly what he didn't want to hear. He looked back at the little girl, and his heart broke. How could life ever mess with someone so innocent and young?


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Mark decided to go back to the hospital to visit Leah again. He walked through the elevator doors and stopped to talk to the doctor.

"Hey Doc, how's she doing?"

The nurse pursed her lips.

"Not good. She still won't talk to anyone but you…and she hasn't eaten her breakfast." she explained sadly.

Mark furrowed his eyebrows in worry as he made his way over to her room. Her hair was put into French braid pigtails and she was poking at the hash brown, in deep thought. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what she was thinking about…she was thinking about her bug infested plates in that awful closet.

"Mornin' Leah." he said with a cheerful smile.

Leah's head popped up and she gave him a small smile.

"Hi Ranger Mark."

He looked down at her plate.

"Not that hungry today huh? Well I'll tell you what…I'm starving. Mind if I have a bite?"

She nodded and he smiled and took of a bite of the scrambled eggs on the tray. He could tell she was starving by the eyes she was giving him…but he also knew that she wouldn't take a bite. So he decided to play a little game.

"I have a surprise for you." he said with an enthusiastic voice.

She smiled and her eyes lit up with a little bit of joy.

"A surprise?" she asked

He nodded.

"Mhmmm…and I'll tell you what. If you eat a bite or two of your breakfast, I'll give it to ya."

She swallowed hard, but nodded. She took a silver spoon and hesitantly put a spoonful of hash brown in her mouth. To her surprise…it was delightful. She was eating like a starving animal, before she knew it. Mark watched her in in satisfaction. The girl needed to get some meat on her bones After she was done, she took a swing of her apple juice, and wiped her mouth. He smirked at her.

"Well…I don't know about you, but I'm stuffed." he said while patting his stomach.

"Me too. The surprise?" she reminded him.

"Oh, that's right." he said before reaching into his pocket.

He pulled out a Texas Ranger badge, and Leah's eyes widened when he put it into her hand.

"That right there is a Texas Ranger badge. You're a Texas Ranger now, little Darlin'." he said smiling at her.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief.

He nodded and smirked.

"Mhmm…but you have to have to take the oath to make it official. So raise your right hand."

She did was he asked her.

"Ok, now repeat after me…I will uphold."

"I will uphold."

"The duties."

"The duties."

"Of a Texas Ranger."

"Of a Texas Ranger."

"I promise."

"I promise."

Mark smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Ok, NOW It's official."

She smiled at him. He was so nice to her.

"You know what this means though?" he asked with a serious face.

Leah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before shaking her head.

"It means we're partners now. Till the end." he said before extending his hand out to her.

She pursed her lips in thought before she clasped hands with him, as if they were about to have an arm wrestling contest.

"Till the end." she agreed before squeezing it.

He chuckled as his huge hand engulfed hers…but somehow they made it work.

"So partner, whaddya say? Wanna get outta here for a couple hours?"

She nodded and smiled eagerly Mark chuckled and nodded.

"Alright then, let's go."

Over the next few hours, they spent time bonding at the park, a local lake, and strolling around town. He was happy that Leah was really opening up to him. Whenever he asked her a question, she would reply, and he found that it didn't take much to make her smile or laugh. He was amazed that this young girl could still be so strong, regardless of everything that she had been through. They headed back to the hospital and Mark suddenly thought about her condition again…the test results hadn't come in yet, and he didn't know the severity of her disorder….and it was killing him.

"Ranger Mark, do you have to go?" Leah asked sadly.

Mark's heart broke for the girl.

"Yeah, I have to go Darlin'…but I'll be back in a few days. You want me to find Ernesto and put him in jail, right?"

She sighed and nodded her head.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure Darlin'." he answered with a confused face.

"When you find him…can you punch him in the right side of his jaw for me?"

If Mark hadn't been confused, he would have laughed up a storm. He wondered why she had been so specific, but he didn't ask.

"You can bet on it, Brown Eyes.'." he replied with a smile.  
Leah blushed. She hadn't gotten used to Ranger Calaway's endearments, yet. And she knew he wasn't trying to make her uncomfortable, it actually seemed to be second nature to him.

"Thanks for today, Ranger Walker. I had a lot of fun. It's nice having a friend." she said smiling.

Mark's heart melted.

"No problem, honey. That's what partners are for right? We look out for each other. Now, you just keep that pretty little smile on your face for me, alright?"

He tapped his finger on the tip of her nose before tipping his hat off to her. She smiled and waved goodbye.

As soon as he stepped outside of her room, the nurse stopped him.

"Ranger Mark, do you have a second?"

He nodded right away and followed her.

"Leah is going to be transferred to the local children's orphanage in a few days…Would you mind taking her? She seems to be most comfortable with you."

He etched an uncomfortable look on his face. He had heard some stories about the older kids at the orphanage, and from what he heard, they could be pretty brutal…

"The orphanage? Isn't there anything else we could do for her?" he asked desperately.

The nurse sighed. She saw the look Mark had on his face every time he was with Leah, and she knew that he was growing attached to her very quickly…question was…did HE know that?

"Well with her lung disorder, we have to make sure that she can be brought here on call, or if anything happens." she explained.

Mark sighed and ran his hands along his face. He knew his fair share of living in an orphanage…after his parents had both died when he was just a tike, he stayed in one, himself. He just hoped that Leah would take it a lot better than he did…


End file.
